The forest industry continued to be a powerful economic driver for Georgia in 2019, according to a press release.
A recently released report from Georgia Tech shows more than $36.5 billion in total sales for the industry, supporting more than 141,000 jobs. It was the ninth consecutive year for job growth in the industry, with compensation ranking higher than any other manufacturing sector in the state at $3.9 billion.
“Georgia’s forest industry has delivered valuable benefits to the state for a long time,” said Georgia Forestry Commission Director Tim Lowrimore, “and this report has a lot of positive highlights.
Forestry generated total revenue of $22 billion, increasing state tax revenues to $929 million. Wages and salaries measured $3.9 billion, ranking forestry number one in compensation among all Georgia industries.”
The impact values of urban and community forestry are separate values from the impact of the traditional forest industry, which includes all service and manufacturing activity related to the growth, harvesting and use of forest materials in Georgia. In 2019, urban and community forestry companies created and supported more than 48,000 jobs with wages and salaries of $2 billion and generated $4.8 billion of economic activity.
Other notable highlights of the 2019 Economic Benefits of the Forest Industry in Georgia report, produced by the Enterprise Innovation Institute, Georgia Institute of Technology are:
- Direct impacts increased 2.4% in sales and 0.9% in employment over 2018.
- Total output increased 0.6%, the ninth consecutive year of growth.
- Georgia’s pulp and paper industry continued to dominate all sectors within the forest industry, representing 62% of output, 35% of employment and 46% of compensation paid to employees.
To read the 2019 Economic Benefits of the Forest Industry in Georgia report, go to:
https://gatrees.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/2019-Forestry-Impact-Report-WEB.pdf.
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